Dolphins Haven't Solved Problems

NFL training camp preview - MIAMI DOLPHINS

DAVIE — On the eve of training camp at their new facility, the Miami Dolphins are stuck with the same question they ended last season with: Can they block?

The image remaining from their 29-10 loss to Buffalo at home in the AFC Championship Game is of left guard Keith Sims, who let Bruce Smith sack Dan Marino on a three-step drop.

As several teammates put it later, that play was simply embarrassing. Yet, on Friday, the Dolphins signed Sims to a 3-year, $4.2 million contract. Sims is the team's highest-paid offensive lineman.

As for the rest of the offensive line, the Dolphins are playing a dangerous game of musical chairs. Free-agent Ron Heller was brought in from Philadelphia to take over the right tackle spot. Eddie Blake, who missed his entire rookie season with injuries, has been moved from defensive line to right guard.

Right guard Harry Galbreath is gone via free agency. Center Jeff Uhlenhake is coming off knee surgery and hasn't signed yet. Mark Dennis and Jeff Dellenbach, the right tackle tandem of last season, are backups.

The coaching situation has even been in flux. After last season, coach Don Shula demoted long-time offensive line coach John Sandusky and brought in Kim Helton, who left after two months to become head coach at the University of Houston. Sandusky, who is low-key and not respected by many players, is back, helping out with former Florida coach Rich McGeorge.

In his short stint, Helton was impressive. As one player said: ''Helton was wild. He had the offensive linemen working, telling them he didn't care about anything, he was just going to play the best guy. He even had Keith (Sims) working hard. Now those linemen are going to go back to their old, lazy ways.''

This is one spot at which the Dolphins can't afford confusion. Last season, they allowed 28 sacks, the most since Dan Marino joined the team in 1983. In their loss to Buffalo, they allowed four sacks, and Marino was pressured constantly. They hardly looked like a team that was one step from the Super Bowl. But the Dolphins believe they are close to getting there. They are still combing the trade market for linemen. They did their best to bring in a free agent but had to settle for Heller when the market went out of control.

Heller, who played left tackle for the Eagles, could be a good addition because of his feisty approach. Shula said he will give Heller and Blake the majority of the snaps during camp in hopes of getting them in sync.

Blake's situation is interesting. He was an offensive lineman at Auburn, but the Dolphins tried to move him to nose guard last season as a rookie. He was injured twice and was never in shape, weighing as much as 340. But Blake is supposedly below 310 and is the strongest player on the team. ''I was very pleased by what I saw of him during the minicamp (in May) and the June camp,'' Shula said before grinning slyly. ''He owes me a year, and I'm telling him that.''